Dilemma
by British Chicky
Summary: An As Told by Ginger fic, followup to Ginger's Solo. Chapter 3 Posted
1. Now don't you feel stupid?

Untitled by British Chicky  
  
Dedicated to "munchkin", my fellow die-hard ATBG freak and the first person who read this story for me, convinced me that it didn't blow and talked me into posting it. thanks kid. Here's to you.  
  
***  
  
"Don't say good luck." Ginger said softly, tears filling her eyes. "Means bad luck." And she ran until she disappeared into the crowd.  
  
"Ginger!" Sasha cried after her. He craned his neck up to look over the crowds of people, but all he could see was a storm of multicolored band hats and golden tassels. He felt horrible. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sighing, he turned around and faced Clover. "Hey sweetie, how are you doing?" he asked half-heartedly.  
  
"I'm alright, but I am seriously suffocating in here with all these band geeks. Let's get out of here," said Clover as she took him by the hand and dragged him outside. "Who was that chick you were talking to?" she asked Sasha crossly as soon as they got out of the door. As much as Sasha liked Clover, she could be really be overprotective sometimes. She didn't like him talking to other girls, she didn't like him hanging out with other girls, and she didn't like him going to any place where there might be girls without her. But still, she was .kinda. nice. And she was hot. She was popular. And she knew where the best parties were. And-  
  
"Good Lord," Sasha thought. "I am the biggest hypocrite! Clover dumped me for a "popular", and I went on a rampage against them. I was a jerk to Ginger because I thought she was going out with one. And now. now it's me that's dating one," he glanced at Clover, "again,"  
  
"So?" demanded Clover, tugging on his arm. "Who was she?"  
  
"Nobody," said Sasha. "Just an old friend of mine from summer camp,"  
  
Clover looked at him disbelievingly. "You were friends with a band geek?"  
  
"She's not a geek!" said Sasha angrily. "She's really sweet, and funny, and smart."  
  
"You sure you're not thinking of her as more than a friend?" Clover questioned him. When she received no response, she sighed angrily. "Look Sasha, it's her or me. You think about it for awhile, okay?" She stormed away, leaving Sasha alone. Sasha was tempted to go after her, but thought better of it. Instead, he went over to a bench near him and sat down.  
  
"Maybe I do have some thinking to do," he said sadly.  
  
***  
  
Ginger lay in bed, scribbling furiously in her journal.  
  
"The whole thing with Sasha and Clover. well, I should have expected it," she told herself.  
  
Although winning the band competition that night had lifted her spirits for the bus ride home, as soon as she stepped off the bus, away from the "Hidey- ho, hidey-hey, we went and put the sass in brass," her mind cleared, and reality stared her blunt in the face. After a quiet hello to her mother and Carl, she had told them that all the excitement of winning the competition made her rather tired, and then disappeared into her room.  
  
She had been crying for an hour. Reaching around her neck, she grasped the locket that Sasha had given her after their relationship at Camp Caprice. She had no idea what to do with it. It was so pretty that she didn't want to throw it away, but.  
  
"I can't keep it," Ginger said to herself. "Too much heartache. I am so naïve! Sending him notes, calling him all the time, and never hearing back. gosh, Ginger, you are so stupid!"  
  
"And why is that?" came a voice from her window. Ginger turned around. Darren was perched on her windowsill, a sly smile on his face. When Ginger looked up at him with red puffy eyes, Darren's smile changed to a look of concern.  
  
"Are you alright, Ging?" he asked.  
  
"Um-mumufuh," she responded, burying her head in her pillow.  
  
"That would be a no," said Darren, quickly jumping off the windowsill into Ginger's room and walking over to her bed. "What happened?" he asked, running his hand through her curly red hair.  
  
Ginger lifted her head up from her pillow. "Sasha has a girlfriend," she said through her tears, "and I was so naïve to not have figured it out before. I sent him letters, I called him all the time, and I never got any response back. it's not that surprising." She proceeded to tell Darren the whole story. "And his girlfriend is really pretty- blonde hair, long legs, the whole shebang. I didn't stand a chance," she finished.  
  
"But you actually have a personality," Darren said. "And I think that Sasha knows that. It just might take some time for him to figure it out. And it's not like you're not pretty, Ging," he said, running his fingers through her hair again. "You have the nicest hair ever, everyone thinks so."  
  
Ginger began to cry again.  
  
"What did I say?" he asked.  
  
"Sasha. Sasha said to me right before I left Camp Caprice. that. that my hair was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And he ran his fingers through it. just like you did," sobbed Ginger, burying her head into Darren's shoulder.  
  
"It's alright," Darren said, making a mental note not to run his hand through Ginger's hair again until she was completely over Sasha. "It's going to be fine. And you know I'm here for you, and so are Macie and Dodie." He gave Ginger a hug and a kiss on top of the head. "I'm going to leave you to your thoughts, but if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."  
  
"Thanks, Darren," said Ginger. You're the best friend a person could have," "That's what I'm here for," Darren said with a smile as he hopped onto the ladder that led up to Ginger's window. "I'll come check on you tomorrow, is that alright?"  
  
"That would be great. Thanks for listening to my babbling," Ginger said.  
  
"It's the least I could do," replied Darren. "Goodnight."  
  
"Night."  
  
As soon as Darren was down the ladder, Ginger pulled out her journal again. She began to write down the lyrics of a song that she knew very well. A song that she had written herself, in fact.  
  
There were copper colored ponies There was air that smelt like rain And the moon was out in daytime When I first learned your name And though the clouds a-quickly moved in Though the path looked overgrown The time that I spent talking to you Made me feel like I was home.  
  
She stared at the poem for a couple of minutes, pondering how to deal with her situation. Suddenly, a new song began flooding her mind, and she transferred her thoughts onto the paper in front of her.  
  
Well the ponies come, and ponies go And the rain, it made a storm The sky, it turned to darkness So now I pray for morn The clouds, they seem, will stay forever The path's so overgrown All the time I wasted talking to you Makes me wish that I'd stayed home.  
  
Ginger sighed. It helped her mind to get thoughts out on paper. The phone rang, and she picked it up, knowing that it was going to be Dodie and Macie on the other line.  
  
"Hello," she said, trying to mask the sadness in her voice.  
  
"Ginger, what did Sasha do to you?" Dodie asked, her voice full of concern.  
  
"Nothing," said Ginger.  
  
"Don't lie to us, Ginger. We're two of your best friends, we can tell when something's wrong," said Macie.  
  
"Oh joy," Ginger thought to herself. "Three way calls equal two people ganging up on me."  
  
"Okay," Ginger said. "I hope you guys have got quite a bit of time on your hands."  
  
An hour later, Ginger hung up the phone feeling slightly better. Macie and Dodie had spent almost the entire hour telling Ginger that Sasha was a jerk that she was too good for. As much as Ginger wanted to believe them, she had some trouble taking it all in. Although she was extremely mad at Sasha, her heart wouldn't let her hate him.  
  
"I do not still have feelings for Sasha," she said to herself, although she knew that she didn't believe herself.  
  
"How can you be so sure?" another voice in her head whispered.  
  
"I just don't, okay?" she said back.  
  
"Prove it," the voice replied.  
  
"Okay, I will!"  
  
Ginger went to bed that night determined to convince herself that she did NOT like Sasha.  
  
***  
  
Dear Ginger,  
  
How's it going? I haven't heard from you in ages! I hope I've been sending these letters to the right address. How's guitar going for you? Mom got me started on private lessons and my teacher says I'm doing really good. Anyways, are you going to be coming to Camp Caprice again this year? I'd really like to see you again, and I bet Sasha would too *wink, wink nudge, nudge*. I hope to hear from you soon, and maybe I'll see you this summer!  
  
Hugs,  
  
Melanie  
  
Ginger smiled sadly at the letter in front of her. Guess she wasn't the only one that Sasha was hiding stuff from. It was obvious that Sasha hadn't told Melanie about running into Ginger at school, or she was sure that Melanie would have said something.  
  
"Either way, I should really write a note back," Ginger thought. She pulled out a sheet of stationary and began her note.  
  
Dear Melanie,  
  
Sorry I haven't written back for awhile, I meant to send a reply to your last letter, but I've had a lot on my mind since then.  
  
Ginger laughed quietly. That was the understatement of the year. Melanie's letter had arrived the same day as Ginger's encounter with Sasha and Clover. Ginger's mind had been very occupied since then.  
  
Guitar has been going pretty good. I've only really written one song since Camp Caprice. another one about Sasha. Not the nicest thing I've ever written either, I'm sad to say. He didn't tell you that I ran into him at his school, did he? I was concerned because I hadn't heard from him lately, or at all, really, and when I heard that the Lucky Middle School band was going to a competition at Heathered Hills Middle, I went and begged the band teacher to let me join the band. He didn't really want to let me join, but he didn't have much of a choice once the "extra-grande triangle" player was suspended from the band program because of his grades. It's sad how far I'll go for Sasha, isn't it? So anyways, it turns out that band was totally NOT my thing, especially with the extra-grande triangle. I guess I should stick to my guitar. But I really wanted to see Sasha again, so I kept suffering through it until it was time for us to go to the competition. I saw your brother and I turned into a complete puddle of worthless glop, babbling like an idiot, you know how I can get around him. We decided to meet in the cafeteria around one, and when I got there, he started talking about his old girlfriend that dumped him back at the end of last year for some "perfect" popular guy. Then, I hear this high- pitched obnoxious voice cry out "Saaaaaaasha!" And this blonde chick with perfect hair and a perfect body walks up and goes "What are you doing hiding behind all these band dorks?" I was trying to decide whether to wring her neck or hide behind a wall. Anyways, it turns out this girl's name is Clover and she and Sasha got back together again. Just great, isn't it? I don't know why he even bothered to be with me in the first place, when he knew he had that girl waiting for him once he got home. I'm not good enough for him, and he knows it, and now I know it too. So I don't really think Sasha is going to be too anxious to see me again. Ever.  
  
I feel really bad for dragging you into this, but I figured I might as well tell you, and besides, I needed to give you a reason for why I've been distant lately. I've really been distant with everyone lately, I've been feeling. depressed, I guess. I don't know if I'd really be able to survive an entire session at Camp Caprice with Sasha. but we can still get together and hang out for a while, right? I really miss you, and I miss your great advice. If anyone needs advice right now, it's me. You know where you can reach me. Hope I will talk to you soon, I need to get my mind off. everything!  
  
All my love,  
  
Ginger  
  
Ginger sighed as she put her pen down on her desk. "I can't send the note, it's horrible to drag a perfectly innocent nine year old into this. But still. I think she deserves to know. Besides, it could never hurt to have a person know my point of view. That's one more chance for them to take my side," she thought, sealing the envelope in front of her and writing the address on.  
  
***  
  
"SASHA!!!" Melanie screamed, holding the letter from Ginger tightly in her hand. "HOW LOW CAN YOU STOOP?!?!"  
  
"This can't be good," Sasha muttered, opening the door to his bedroom and walking to the staircase where the voice of his younger sister had erupted. For such a small person, she could yell LOUD. Melanie's face was red with anger, and Sasha noticed that there was a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand. "What is it?" he asked weakly.  
  
"YOU'RE BACK WITH THAT. UGH!!!" Melanie cried as she raced up the stairs. "I really hope you're proud of yourself, big bro, because you just really messed up a great thing you had going with a person who really, really cared about you!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sasha asked angrily, looking down at his sister whose head barely reached his chest in height. "No munchkin yells at me and gets away with it," he thought.  
  
"You are back with Clover, after you swore to yourself that you would stay away from her type forever after what she did to you, and you got Ginger so upset that she's not coming to Camp Caprice this year because she doesn't think she'd be able to get through an entire session there with you. You meant that much to her. She's acting different."  
  
"How would you know if she's acting different? You haven't seen her since last summer."  
  
"I just know that she's not acting the same. It's in the way that she writes. Do you want to hear what she wrote about you?"  
  
Sasha reached for the note in Melanie's grasp, but she pulled it out of his reach.  
  
"I'm not letting you read it!" Melanie said. "But I'll read you part of what she wrote."  
  
Her eyes scanned the page, looking for something that would show Sasha how bad he had hurt her friend but still not betray what Ginger had confided in her. "This will work," she said as she began to read, stumbling over a few of the larger words. "Anyway, it turns out this girl's name is Clover and she and Sasha got back together again. Just great, isn't it? I don't know why he even bothered to be with me in the first place, when he knew he had that girl waiting for him once he got home. I'm not good enough for him, and he knows it, and now I know it too. So I don't really think Sasha is going to be too anxious to see me again. Ever."  
  
Sasha lowered his eyes to the ground, then up to the ceiling, anything to avoid his younger sister's murderous glare.  
  
"You could have at least told her that you were back with Clover before she found out on her own," said Melanie, still glaring at him. "Even though you knew that she thought that you two were still together, you went and found someone who you thought was better, and then didn't even bother to tell Ginger that you were dropping her for the same type of person that you blew up at her for? You are lower than scum."  
  
Sasha was amazed at the new backbone his sister had found over the school year. He used to be able to tell her anything, even something totally crazy, and she would believe him in a second. Now she had her own point of view, and quite a mature one. As much as he hated to admit it, Sasha knew that Melanie was a lot wiser than most kids her age, and she understood a lot more than people thought she did. He had to give her credit.  
  
"Okay, okay," Sasha said, sitting down on the old worn couch next to the stairs.  
  
Melanie sat down next to him, her arms folded, and by the look on her face, clearly expecting an explanation.  
  
"I feel really bad," he started, "because I realized that same evening that I ran into Ginger again that I was the biggest hypocrite in the world."  
  
"You are," responded Melanie.  
  
"But I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. She doesn't want to hear from me again. I don't deserve the right to talk to her again."  
  
The harshness in Melanie's eyes softened, but only very slightly. "I don't know if there's anything you can do," she said quietly. "You might have really blown the big one this time. The only thing that I think you can do right now is apologize, like mom always says to do, and hope that things work out. If you're lucky, you might get her back."  
  
Sasha looked over at Melanie. "I think it's amazing the way that you stick up for your friends," he said softly. "And I want you to know that I will always consider your advice as creditable, okay? I'm going to go think things over a little bit."  
  
He started off towards his room when he heard Melanie speak again.  
  
"You mean that?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Then consider this one last thing. I don't want you to say anything once I'm done, I just want you to think about it. Mom always says to treat people the way we want to be treated, right? Maybe you should think about it. I'm going to go write back to Ginger."  
  
Sasha turned around to respond, only to find the hall behind him empty. He returned to his room, where he flopped onto his bed and lay in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, the phone rang. He jumped to get it.  
  
"Hello?" he said.  
  
"Sasha?" a familiar, rather squeaky voice responded.  
  
"That's me,"  
  
"Okay, good. Look, there's this party going on tonight at Lena's and we're going."  
  
"Aren't you going to ask me if I want to go?" he asked crossly.  
  
"Well, you do, don't you?"  
  
"I don't really think I'm up to a party tonight, Clover," he said. "I've got a bit of a headache,"  
  
"Saaaaaaasha!" Clover whined, "I really, really, want to go! Can't you just take some Advil or something?"  
  
"It's a stress headache. Advil generally doesn't work on those."  
  
"Stress headaches. Pshaw. My mom says those are all in your head."  
  
"It IS all in my head. That's why they call it a headache, sweetie."  
  
"You know what I meant, Sasha. You've been acting really weird lately. What is up with you?"  
  
"Nothing is up with me! I just have a lot on my mind!"  
  
"Wait- is this about that band geek girl that you were talking to last week? That Georgia one, or whatever her name was?"  
  
"He name is Ginger."  
  
"That is who this is about, isn't it? I already told you, it was her or me. Me or a little band geek."  
  
"Will you quit calling her a band geek!" Sasha exclaimed. "She treated me so much better than you ever did, and it took me until now to figure it out. Ginger treats me like a real person. Ginger thinks about me before she thinks about herself. Ginger is my FRIEND!"  
  
"I can't believe you. You screwed up our relationship once, and now you're doing it again. You're screwing up what we had for some frizzy-haired band dork. I gave you a second chance. I don't give thirds."  
  
"We had nothing. You treated me like crud, wouldn't let me talk to my friends that were girls, made me spend every spare moment of mine with you. And yet you flirted with guys all over the place, but I never said anything, because I thought that I actually meant something to you. I guess I was wrong. We had nothing. And I don't want your third chance, and I never should have taken the second. And if you ever call Ginger a band dork again, I will punch your face in. I don't care about the whole 'guys can't punch girls' rule. Ethnics don't even apply to you anymore. Go find another guy to take you to Lena's party. I hope you have a great time. Nice knowing you."  
  
He slammed the phone down onto the receiver.  
  
"I see you decided to listen to me," Melanie said from behind Sasha's door. She opened the door and walked inside. "You finally figured out what was most important to you."  
  
"I guess I did," Sasha said, still rather shocked at himself for telling off Clover with the power that he did. "I only have one small problem."  
  
"What's that?" Melanie asked.  
  
"Ginger hates me!" he cried, burying his head into his pillow.  
  
End of Chapter 1.  
  
Author's Notes - Please read. they're not extremely important, but they do explain my madness.  
  
Some of the characters may seem spectacularly out of character. care for an explanation as to why? If so, here you go.  
  
Melanie's character is the one that's been bothering me the most, because she's the most OOC. This is because in "The Summer of Camp Caprice" we don't really learn too much about her other than the fact that she a sweet little nine-year-old who learns words of wisdom from her mum. Unfortunately, I based her more on myself as a nine-year-old. so she may seem kind of. how do I put this? Oh yeah, evil. That's it.)  
  
I had fun developing Clover's character because we know really nothing about her other than the fact that she's, well. a itchy bear with no ears. (It's a riddle, think about it) So maybe there's a group of Clover lovers out there who will flame me for portraying her as such, but that's just how I see her. Sorry!  
  
Darren. hmm. I showed this to my next door neighbor who pointed out that his relationship with Ginger seems slightly more-than-platonic at times. Probably because I am a die-hard Ginger/Darren shipper as well as a Ginger / Sasha one. ^_^. Then again, maybe y'all won't see it. I know I didn't until my semi-editor pointed it out to me (thanks munchkin!)  
  
And with Sasha. there's something about my portrayal of him that's driving me up the wall. maybe he seems too observant or caring or something. or maybe not enough. He's a jerk sometimes. *sigh* silly boys.  
  
Okay, and here's some other random stuff that's been eating away at my soul about this story.  
  
I'm probably going to get some reviews that say "Sasha never told Ginger that her hair was beautiful, and he didn't run his fingers through her hair either." All I've got to say to that is - I don't know what happened after Ginger's heartwarming song, so I used my creative license on it. It'll come up again later in the story, I have plans for that hair of Ginger's. *cackles evilly*  
  
I don't know if this is going to come out correctly formatting-wise. Last time I put a story up allthewordsweresquishedtogetherlikethiswhichprovestobeirritating. Let's hope it doesn't do that this time.  
  
This is my first As Told By Ginger story. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but would you mind reviewing and telling me what I did wrong? I enjoy constructive criticism (honestly, I really do!) so if there's something about my writing that bothers you, tell me and I'll fix it. What bothers me is when people write "Your stories suck / you have no writing talent / don't write anymore / etc." So please, flame me if necessary, praise me if I'm worthy ^_^. Thanks for holding with me this long.  
  
Last but not least. I promise y'all that I will NEVER make an Author note this long again. Thanks for bearing with me through it!  
  
-British Chicky  
  
Oh, by the way. see how the story is titled "Untitled"? (Que Ironico) If anyone can come up with an idea for a name for this story, send it to ChrmSkoolGrad@aol.com or stick it in with your reviews. Thanks people! 


	2. Dammit, I'm a lunatic!

Dilemma - Chapter Two By British Chicky  
  
Dear Ginger,  
  
It's alright that you didn't respond to my note right away. Sasha can be such a butthead sometimes, I know. I talked to him for awhile after I got your note, and he feels really, really bad. He hasn't talked to anyone for the past two weeks. He isn't eating much either. Mom practically has to force the food down his throat. I know he deserves it and all, but he is my brother, so I have to feel a little bit bad. If it makes you feel any better, after he realized that he was being a dork, he dumped Clover... that doesn't matter to you anymore, though, does it? I just hope you're handling yourself better than he is. Um, don't take this the wrong way, I'm still on your side and everything, but maybe you should think about talking to him again. Just so he doesn't go crazy or anything. You don't have to forgive him. I guess you don't have to talk to him. But just in case you wanted to, I thought I'd present you the option. Hopefully we can turn this whole thing around by June so I can see you at camp!  
  
Melanie  
  
Ginger sighed as Melanie's letter fell from her hands. She picked it up, re-read it, folded it back up neatly and put it in its envelope. She lifted up her pillow to place the note underneath, and her pastel colored journal caught her eye. She undid the lock and began to write in slow loopy cursive.  
  
Why is it that I'm the one that feels guilty now? This isn't my fault. Sasha screwed himself over. I didn't have anything to do with it. This isn't my fault. This isn't my fault. This isn't my fault.  
  
There was a knocking sound on the window, and Ginger turned to it, knowing full well who would be looking in on her.  
  
"The window's locked!" she saw Darren mouth as he continued to rap on the glass. Ginger sprung off her bed, knocking her diary to the floor as she did so. Darren smiled at her as she opened the window and helped him inside.  
  
"Since when did you keep your window locked?" he asked.  
  
"Since I became a crazy lunatic who began feeling guilty for things that weren't my fault."  
  
"Are you alright, Ginger?" Darren asked as they both fell backwards onto Ginger's bed.  
  
"No, I'm not alright. I'm a crazy lunatic who -"  
  
"Alright, Alright! I heard that part already."  
  
Ginger grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot. When you lose your mind, your memory generally goes along for the ride, if you know where I'm coming from."  
  
"Sadly, I don't. I keep my mind on a leash."  
  
Darren was delighted to see Ginger smile. Happiness wasn't an emotion that she had been too eager to show lately, and when you got her to really smile, you knew you had accomplished something.  
  
"So anyway," he said. "Anything been eating away at your soul lately, par chance?"  
  
"I don't think I even have a soul anymore," Ginger said. When Darren turned to look at her, her eyes told him that she was in another world. "I'm a horrible person... but it's not my fault... but I'm a horrible person... but it's not my fault...."  
  
"Ging! Snap out of it!" Darren said, waving his hand in front of her face. She immediately snapped out of her daze.  
  
"I'm a horrible person!" she cried, rolling over and burying her face in a bundle of blankets. Darren sighed and patted her back reassuringly.  
  
"You're not a horrible person. You're a great person. And if you'd just tell me what you did, we could sort this out really quickly."  
  
Ginger reached under her pillow and pulled out a slightly crumpled write envelope. Tossing it to Darren, she buried her head back into her blankets and began to recite what he guessed was her new mantra.  
  
"I am not a lunatic. I am not a lunatic. I am NOT a lunatic."  
  
Darren sat up and read the note over Ginger's mindless ramblings. When he finished, he reached over Ginger and slipped the note back under her pillowcase. He was glad that Sasha felt bad, but the way it was affecting his best friend. it wasn't fair to her.  
  
"Dammit, I'm a LUNATIC!" Ginger screamed into her pillow. Darren sighed and rubbed her back, hoping to bring back the happy Ginger that he used to know. When she lifted her head up again, tears were streaming down her cheeks. She hurriedly tried to brush them away, but found it to be no use. Looking at Darren's concerned face only caused her to cry more.  
  
"What did I do that was so wrong?" she asked him as he grabbed her a tissue from her bed stand. "I don't want him to suffer this much... well, I do, but I don't want him to end up sick. What am I supposed to do?"  
  
Darren sat in silence, wondering how to respond. It wasn't a situation that he really wanted to be drawn into, it wasn't his battle to fight. But he couldn't tell Ginger that, it would send her into another nervous wreck.  
  
"It's the only way," he thought.  
  
"Look, Ging. I don't know what's supposed to happen now. I don't know Sasha, I've never had a conversation with the guy, only got a glance at him when we were at camp. All I really think you can do is follow your heart. It's what's going to end up telling you what's right, not me." "I wish I made as much sense as you," Ginger said, blowing her nose on the tissue Darren had handed her.  
  
"You do make as much sense as me, you just don't listen to yourself enough."  
  
Ginger gave him her signature look of utter doubt - left eyebrow raised, mouth slightly pouting. "Yeah, I make sense ALL the time," she said sarcastically.  
  
"Okay, so you aren't exactly comprehendible when you're telling yourself that you're a lunatic, but we're going to work on that, aren't we?" Darren replied, patting her back reassuringly.  
  
"Yeah..." Ginger said, nodding her head and smiling slightly. "I'm going to listen to me. Thanks. Now, I've kinda got a lot to think about, and that huge essay to finish, so..."  
  
"I know my way out," Darren said. "You'll figure it out," he said as he opened the window and climbed outside. Ginger waved to him from her bed, and when it was confirmed that he had left, she pulled her journal and began to continue her last entry.  
  
No.... this isn't my fault at all. It was Sasha's fault to get himself mixed up in this in the first place. It's not my fault that he dragged me into it. Darren said for me to follow my heart, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm only listening to me.  
  
End of Chapter Two  
  
Author's Notes. which promise to be shorter than last time's!  
  
Ooh, Ginger's getting herself into something *dun dun dun* but she's not a lunatic. she's not a lunatic.  
  
Okay, I'll make this brief. Thank y'all so much for your support, I can't believe some of the nice things that you guys have said about my writing! It's stuff like this that really keeps me wanting to keep going. Thanks to Pansy Potter for the title idea, I'm trying to get it to change, but the computer's screwy. And. ooh, I just want to thank absolutely everyone for the encouraging comments. I never thought you would really like this story that much. So thank y'all, sorry this chapter's shorter and really not as good as the first. I wrote it during the super bowl, so I was only half focused. But I'll have another one up. maybe tomorrow? Possibly? If I've got the time, because I have the idea in my head. So here's hoping. We'll see.  
  
British Chicky 


	3. OxyWhosits and Snooping Sisters

Dilemma Chapter Three - Oxy-Whosits and Snooping Sisters  
  
By British Chicky  
  
  
  
"Sasha!" Melanie called up the stairs. "Pizza for dinner! Come eat!"  
  
"I'm not hungry!" Sasha yelled over the loud music blasting from his stereo. There was silence, and then the muffled sound of a young girl's footstep storming up a flight of stairs. The door to Sasha's room opened, and revealed a very tired, very grumpy looking little girl in a wrinkled sweatshirt at least four sizes too large. The words "Camp Caprice" were printed across the front in bright blue letters.  
  
"Mom says that if you don't come downstairs right now and eat dinner, then you can't go out with your friends this weekend," she screamed over the music. When she received no response from her dark haired brother lying face down on his bed, she stalked over to his stereo and unplugged it in one swift motion. After dropping the cord back on the ground, she proceeded to pound on Sasha repeatedly with a force that could generally not be expected from a child of her size and stature.  
  
"AH! Get OFF me!" Sasha cried as he converted himself to an upright position. Though Melanie had stopped beating on him, he edged himself to the other side of his bed, just to prevent another attack.  
  
"Look," Melanie said sternly. "I want my pizza, and I want it NOW. Mom says that I can't have any until YOU get downstairs. Now, I've been ignoring your bad mood for the past two weeks, but NOTHING stands between me and my pizza. You know that. Now get UP!"  
  
Sasha fought back a laugh. Melanie was so small and innocent looking... but man, could she lecture a person into getting up. Shy and quiet towards people that she didn't know well, but screaming her head off at her brother because she wanted pizza.  
  
"What a duo," he thought.  
  
"Okay," Sasha said, reaching a hand out towards Melanie. "Help me up, and we'll go get some pizza."  
  
"Alright!" the young girl cheered, grabbing her older brother's hand and pulling with all her might. When they finally managed to get Sasha off of his bed, they began walking slowly towards the dining room in silence.  
  
"You're almost like an oxy-moron, you know," Sasha said suddenly, causing Melanie to stare at him for a moment in confusion.  
  
"An oxy-who?"  
  
"Moron."  
  
"You're one to call me a moron!" "Sasha, are you calling your sister names again?" Sasha's mom called from the kitchen. "We had a discussion about this last week!"  
  
"I didn't do anything, Mom!" Sasha protested. He turned back to Melanie and continued. "Not a moron. An oxy-moron. It means you're like... two different things at the same time that don't fit together so it doesn't exist but does exist at the same time."  
  
Melanie gave him a bewildered look. "What?"  
  
Sasha sighed. The more he tried to figure things out lately, the less they made sense. "Never mind. I don't even remember why I said it anymore."  
  
"You think too much," said Melanie.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
They sat down at the table while their mother began to fill their plates with pizza.  
  
"So," she said awkwardly, removing her reading glasses and placing them next to her placemat. "How were your guy's days?"  
  
"It was okay," said Melanie. "There's a new girl in my class."  
  
"Oh, that's great!" her mother said enthusiastically. "I'm glad to hear you're making more friends at school."  
  
"Not really. She made fun of my hair and then tried to trip me while I was walking to recess. But the teacher made her sit out for all of free time, so it was alright."  
  
"Oh. Well... that's good, I suppose. How was your day, Sasha?"  
  
"Fine," Sasha responded shortly.  
  
"Did anything interesting happen?" his mother asked, pushing for more information.  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Sasha, are you alright? You've been really quiet lately."  
  
Sasha finished eating his slice of pizza, stood up, and pushed in his chair. "I'm fine mom, but thanks for asking. I'm going to go upstairs now, 'cause you know, I've got that huge English essay due."  
  
"You said that you finished that English essay three days ago," said Melanie.  
  
"No I didn't, I said that it was DUE three days ago." Sasha replied calmly.  
  
"If it was due three days ago, shouldn't you have turned it in then?"  
  
"Exactly. And that's all the more reason I should get started on it now, isn't it?"  
  
"Sasha!" his mother scolded as he ran up the stairs leading to his room.  
  
"Sorry Mom, gotta get to work right away!" he replied.  
  
He opened the door to his room and plopped down on his bed. Taking a notebook from his backpack, he scribbled a few words, paused and erased them, and then repeated the process. Thirty minutes later he had barely written three sentences. Finally, he dropped the notebook to the floor, ignoring the papers that scattered every which way around his already cluttered room.  
  
"Maybe a shower will help me think better," he sighed as he grabbed a towel from his closet and headed towards the bathroom.  
  
"Melanie, didn't your brother say he was going to go work on that English essay that was due three days ago?" asked Melanie's mom as she cleared the table.  
  
"I think so... why?" Melanie replied.  
  
"Well, I hear the water running upstairs. Do me a favor, sweetie, and go see why he's not working on his overdue homework."  
  
"Alright," agreed Melanie as she headed for the stairs.  
  
She raised her hand no knock on the bathroom door, but suddenly had a better idea. Taking a few steps down the hall, she found herself in front of Sasha's door.  
  
"I don't know what you're hiding, but I do know that you said you finished that essay before," she said to herself as she silently opened the door. What stood before her was in such a state of disarray that it looked like a hurricane had torn through the room. Gingerly picking her way through the mess, a thick, stapled package of papers with a large A+ on the top seemed to jump out at her. She picked it up and read the writing in red pen on the front.  
  
"Sasha-" it said, "This is some of the best work I've seen from you this year. You express your feelings very strongly. Did you ever consider a career as a writer?" It was signed by Sasha's English teacher... and dated four days before the current date.  
  
Melanie tutted under her breath. "Oh, Sasha, I always knew you were a bad liar... so let's see what you were really doing." She continued to silently search the room, looking for any sign of what Sasha had been so occupied with. After a ten-minute search, she picked a notebook of the ground and began reading the contents of it.  
  
"Dear Ginger," it said, "I know you can't stand me and probably aren't too pleased with the fact that now I take the time to send you a letter, but I really wanted to apologize to you. I'm a complete jerk, there's really no other way of phrasing it. I shouldn't have led you on... I shouldn't have let you go."  
  
The paper was smudged and wrinkled, and there was a small hole in one place where it looked as if Sasha had erased too hard. Melanie smiled and placed the notebook back where she had found it. Realizing how much time she had spent in Sasha's room, she quickly headed for the door. Unfortunately, it opened before she had a chance to escape.  
  
"What are you doing in here, Melanie?" Sasha asked angrily, adjusting the towel wrapped around his waist. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times to stay out of my room and not to touch my stuff."  
  
Melanie stared up at him. "You're a bad liar," she said, pushing by him in his towel-clad state. He glared at her as she exited. Before he had a chance to close the door behind her, she stuck her head back inside the room.  
  
"Send the letter," she said, and exited silently.  
  
Sasha stared at the closed door, once again amazed by his younger sister. After dressing quickly, he walked back to his bed and stared at the notebook in front of him. He added a few of his last thoughts, signed it, and sealed it in an envelope.  
  
"I've got a feeling that I'm going to regret this," he said as he placed the addressed envelope into the town's post office mailbox.  
  
"You won't," said Melanie, standing beside him smiling. "I can feel it."  
  
"Really?" Sasha asked.  
  
"Yeah, really."  
  
Little did they know that three days later the letter would be lying unopened at the bottom of Ginger Foutley's trashcan.  
  
End of Chapter Three  
  
Author's Note - Ooh! It's like a cliff-hanger kinda thingy... sort of! Yeah! So, are y'all liking this at all? I'm feeling kinda more iffy about it the more that I write. I've pretty much given up on trying to keep Melanie in character. but she is a bit of a snoop like a couple other nine years olds I know (i.e. my little sister ^_^) Once again, thank all of you for your reviews, I love all the encouragement. Um... I know I have something else to day, I just don't remember what it is. *ponders*  
  
Now I remember! Okay, it's poll time. Eventually, it's going to be that time of year when our favorite cartoon peoples all go off to the famous *dun dun dun dun* Camp Caprice. The big question for my fic at the moment is... Will Ginger be attending? It's not going to happen for awhile either way, but I'd like to have an idea in my head as to what's going on. When I wrote the first chapter of this story back in August, I had full plans for Ginger to skip Camp Caprice so she could avoid Sasha. But with her new "outlook" on life, I'm thinking maybe we should send her in spite of Sasha, you know, to create some tension. Anyway, I'm looking for opinions, so stick it in your review. or better yet, e-mail me at CharmSkoolGrad@cox.net , or IM me on ChrmSkoolGrad. I love talking to people. Well, before this turns into an author's note to rival the one from the first chapter, I'll leave y'all alone. Review please! Thank you! 


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